OXNARD : Trailer Is a Home for Fire Safety Lessons

Coming soon to an Oxnard location near you--the Fire Safety Trailer.

Built to look like a real house, the trailer helps teach children what to do if caught in a house fire. Fake smoke will spew from the ceiling, triggering a fire alarm and prompting participants to escape out the trailer’s window.

After a video presentation on the mock house at the Oxnard City Council meeting Tuesday, Oxnard Fire Department authorities told the council they expect the $33,000 trailer to roll into town by Oct. 1.

“This is the best thing that I’ve ever seen in public education,” Battalion Chief Terry McAnally said.

“We are going to save lives with this.”

According to National Fire Protection Assn. statistics, more than 6,000 Americans die in house fires every year. Children under 4 account for about 65% of these deaths.

The trailer-classroom concept is based on studies that show people remember little of what they read but retain 90% of what they actually see and do.

“Children get to roll out of bed and crawl over real low and feel the door,” McAnally said. “It’s amazing.”

The trailer’s interior closely resembles a bona fide house, complete with wood moldings, a custom-built kitchen and wall-to-wall carpeting. Children learn how to shut off the gas and practice making 911 calls using the trailer’s phone.

The Fire Department has kicked off a fund-raising drive to pay for the trailer, pledging to put sponsors’ names on the trailer in return for donations. In October, the Fire Department will start towing the trailer to third-grade classrooms in the Oxnard area to conduct training sessions.

“It will go to every event in the city,” McAnally said. “Grown-ups can go through it too.”